Leaving practice and qualifying, we had an idea of what Sunday’s race might bring. But, did any of us expect this?
For the first time since 2020, NASCAR’s spring Bristol race returned to the track’s traditional concrete surface. Though the series held testing for the NextGen cars at the track, the product fans could expect to see on race day was still in question.
Flash forward to this weekend where practice and qualifying left everyone confused. With the addition of resin – rather than the previously used PJ1 – around the bottom of the half-mile oval, track conditions changed quickly and drastically.
Great practice runs would turn to poor qualifying efforts for many, like Chris Buescher and Ross Chastain,as they failed to keep up with the changing conditions. After a rather bizarre Saturday of qualifying, no one really knew what they had going into the Food City 500.
Teams and fans quickly discovered this race would revolve around tire management after several drivers pressed their luck in Stages 1 and 2. This “old-school” race saw the veterans rise to the occasion, while bringing up a larger discussion regarding the tire Goodyear brought to the track that refused to lay rubber on the track other than in marble form.
Join Taylor Kitchen and special guest, Ben Branscum, from the track as they discuss all the action from Bristol!
